


A Minute

by MaddieandChimney



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24338695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: "Seeing you with someone else makes me sick to my stomach." Set between Season 2 and Season 3 - Maddie and Chimney's minute becomes a lot longer than that.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5
Collections: Madney One-Shots





	1. Maddie's POV

It had been six months and five days since they had taken a minute. Only the minute had turned into weeks which had turned into months of Maddie avoiding being anywhere near Chimney. It was the guilt, that was the biggest hurdle she tried to explain to Frank, every single time she looked at the man she absolutely adored, all she could see was him laying on the concrete floor, in a pool of his own blood.

Because of her.

Because of Doug, Frank had countlessly tried to remind her. But she kept coming to the same conclusion - even though he had been the one to make that decision, he never would have had to if she hadn’t run. If she hadn’t tried to move on and start a new chapter with someone else.

She hadn’t expected him to wait around forever, she’d never expect that of anyone. And of course he’d move on, he was kind and loving and any woman would be lucky to have him. But seeing his arm wrapped around another woman, seeing him smile at someone else, she felt the pain radiating through every part of her body. She was too late. She had waited too long.

“This was a mistake.” She whispered to her brother, not able to tear her eyes away from Chimney as he whispered something in the blondes ear. She was gorgeous, her hand was on his thigh and Maddie was going to throw up. “I’m sorry.” She saw the look on her brothers face, it had taken him months to convince her to start getting out her shell again, to start living her life without Doug. She could already see how much he regretted choosing that night of all nights.

“Do you want me to come with you?” He settled on, knowing he couldn’t force her to stay, but willing her to. “No-no, honestly.. I’ll be fine. I drove. I’m sorry.” She finally stopped looking behind him, as she stumbled back, apologising when she bumped into someone. She heard her brother call her name one more time before she turned away and practically ran out of the karaoke bar. It had been a stupid idea, getting all dressed up, thinking she could win Chimney’s heart back with a few songs, and some honesty.

By the time she got to her car, her hands were shaking, as she did everything she could to stop the tears from falling. She could cry in the safety of her new apartment, away from the blood stained concrete where Chimney had once laid, dying. Because of her. The voice was back, and the sob that she had been holding back released, her keys dropping to the ground. “Maddie!”

It was a voice she recognised, one she hadn’t let herself hear in so many months. “Maddie! Hey...” He was breathless when he stopped in front of her, his hands on his knees as he lent over in an attempt to steady his breathing. “Buck didn’t tell us you were coming, he said you were upset—are you okay?”

She finally dared herself to look at him, was it okay to be honest? She didn’t know but it wasn’t as though she had anything left to lose, he was already gone. “Seeing you with someone else really makes me sick to my stomach. And I know I have no right to say that because I’m the one who did this, I’m the reason we lost what we had. And I have no right to be jealous or to... I shouldn’t have even come. Six months was too long, I waited too long and I’m so-“

His lips were on hers before she could finish speaking, his hands on both her cheeks and for a moment, she let herself melt into it. Until she remembered the blonde back at the bar and stumbled away from him until her back hit her car door, “Sorry. Your girlfriend—“

“What? No, shit, Maddie, no. She was just a random girl at the bar. I didn’t know you would be there, I was starting to give up. She’s nobody, she’s not you. I’ve been waiting for you...” It was her turn to close the gap between them, a hand settling on the back of his neck, as his moved to her lower back. It was incredible and nothing like the other two kisses they had shared, full of pain and uncertainty. This was their minute finally being over, “Come back in, please.” He whispered when they pulled back, chests heaving, cheeks red and giddy smiles on both their faces.

He reached out a hand to her, hoping she would take it, relieved when she did. And he made a mental note to both kill and thank her brother when he got a minute alone with him.


	2. Chimney

Chimney looked at Buck in confusion, gently pushing the blonde stranger away from him as he stood up. “What’s your problem?” He questioned, clueless as to why Buck had stormed over to him without prompting, a glare on his face as though he had done something terrible. Was he interested in the random blonde woman? No, that was too Buck 1.0 to be the problem. 

“I managed to get Maddie here, and all she sees is you...” The younger Buckley gestured in the general vicinity of the woman, whilst he kept his focus on the man standing in front of him. “... and now she’s gone. What the fuck, Chim?” He could hear the frustration in Buck’s voice, and the tears he was holding back when his voice cracked ever so slightly. He hid it well though, much better than Chimney was able to hide the devastation on his face. 

Six months and five days. 

That was how long it had been since they had decided to take a minute and it was also the first night he felt as though he had truly given up. He had tried to be the good guy, he had tried to give her the space she so needed, more so than he did. If he was honest, he had felt ready around two weeks after she had walked out of his apartment and he was back in work, back to reality and back to longing for a chance of normality with Maddie. 

“S-she left?” He stammered, his eyes glancing over at the exit when Buck only nodded his head and pushed past him. It wasn’t expected that he would wait forever for the other woman to be ready, but it didn’t matter how much time was gone, if she was ready for something more, then he was too even if she had walked into his life after a year and asked him if he was still interested. 

He couldn’t think of anything else right then other than Maddie. He had seen her in Instagram photos, stolen glances of her when they had all been called into the police station following the bank robbery, but he hadn’t been able to touch her in so long. And so, he ran. He ran faster than he could have imagined, hoping she had parked where she always used to as he sprinted, “Maddie!” He hoped she could hear him, he needed her to hear him. 

“Maddie! Hey...” Chimney finally caught up to her, his breathing heavy as he bent over, his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath as quickly as he could. It took a moment, and a large gulp of air for him to stand up straight and finally look at her. She was even more beautiful than he had remembered and for just a second, he forgot what he wanted to say, “Buck didn’t tell us you were coming, he said you were upset-are you okay?” 

It wasn’t exactly what he had planned on saying in the one minute since he had found out she was there, but it made her look at him. She finally spoke, “Seeing you with someone else really makes me sick to my stomach. And I know I have no right to say that because I’m the one who did this, I’m the reason we lost what we had. And I have no right to be jealous or to... I shouldn’t have even come. Six months was too long, I waited too long and I’m so-“ She was rambling, and she was nervous, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Six months really was too long, but he would have ended up feeling the exact same if she had given him the same speech six months from that point in time. 

He made the move to kiss her for the first time, cutting off her apology before she could get it out. His hands pressed against each of her cheeks and he couldn’t help but grin when she relaxed and kissed him back. But then, just as quickly as he had kissed her, she pulled back and his hands dropped to his side. Perhaps she wasn’t there to tell him she was ready, after all. “Sorry, your girlfriend-”

“What? No, shit, Maddie, no. She was just a random girl at the bar. I didn’t know you would be there, I was starting to give up. She’s nobody, she’s not you. I’ve been waiting for you...” He rushed the words out, needing her to hear them more than anything but also hating how desperate he sounded. This time though, she kissed him and he held her close, knowing he could kiss her every single day for the rest of his life and it would never be enough. 

When the kiss was over, he pulled back, a massive grin on his face he wasn’t sure would ever stop, “Come back in, please.” His hand reached out, and when she took it, he lifted it to his lips and gently pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. In that moment, he wanted to simultaneously thank Buck for finally managing to get Maddie out of the shell she had built for herself over the past few months but also kick his ass for not warning them that she would be coming.


End file.
